Sidis vs Specialized Shoes

[itself]

I have both shoes in a mountain bike type. I have been switching between the two lately, and have noticed some differences.

The Sidis conform to the foot more, and I do find I pedal more efficiently with them. These are not carbon soled like my Specialized. Thus, the benefit of carbon soles may not be as great as I thought.

The Specialized shoe is more roomy, and does not squish my foot as much as the Sidi.

Bottom line. If I could find a shoe with a fit just in between the two, that would be perfect!!

[zoom-zoom]

Sounds like my LG T-Flex 300 shoes. They have carbon blend (of some sort) soles and a heat moldable (in the oven) upper. But they don't squeeze my forefoot like my Sidis did.

[itself]

I would love to get some Louis Garneau shoes, but no one carries them!!

[zoom-zoom]

I would love to get some Louis Garneau shoes, but no one carries them!!

I had to order mine online. I found a few reviews re: fit and took a gamble. They were perfect! I have the road and mtn. version of the same shoe in men's. Usually men's shoes have heels that are too loose on me (women's Sidis were too loose in the heels, even), but these are perfect. Very roomy forefoot, but snug heel. I have duck feet, so they are ideal for my foot.

[Eden]

I have a Specialized foot I guess. I love, love the wide toe box, but the shoe conforms to my foot perfectly everywhere else. I think I really noticed the difference when I switched from Sidis - more comfort and more efficiency.

[nscrbug]

I recently bought a pair of Sidi Ergo 2's (men's size 42.5) after wearing a pair of size 42 women's Northwaves for 2+ years. After wearing the Sidi's for about 3 weeks now, I have to say (sadly) that I'm about ready to give up on them and go back to my Northwave shoes. I just cannot seem to get comfortable in them. For some reason, they felt good in the store (go figure) but once I got them home and started riding in them...it feels like my feet are being strangled. I literally cannot wait to get home from rides, just to take them off and let my feet BREATHE. They don't specifically "hurt" my feet...I just don't feel comfortable in them. My Northwaves did not have a full carbon sole (just carbon-reinforced) and the Sidi's do...so maybe it's the additional stiffness that makes them feel uncomfortable...I'm not exactly sure.

I'm going to wear my Northwaves on tomorrow's ride and see how they feel in comparison to the Sidi's.

Linda

[itself]

Three shoes on my list to try are:

Northwave

Bontrager

Diadora

I had a boot fitting a year ago, and learned that I do indeed need a wide toe box.

[tzvia]

I used to use Sidi shoes and found them to be less and less comfortable the more I used them. I needed more space in the toebox, and the soles began to flex and make my arches ache. So I got some CF reinforced soled Shimano shoes; the mens 230, which come in size 38. I find Shimano run true to size and have more room in the toebox than Sidi. I had them vacuum heat molded to my feet at the LBS and they feel custom made now.

On the road bike I use the Specialized Pro woman's shoes. Their footbed comes in varying levels of arch support with 'varus' (cant) wedges. Overall the shoes fit great and the footbed is ok, but I replaced it with the LG heat moldable footbed which I find feels much better. Just heat them in the oven, put them in the shoe and stand in them for a few minutes.

So I would suggest getting the LG footbeds and molding them in the Specialized shoes that you have and seeing if that improves the feeling.